That had been the start of two years of 'friendship' with Jason, which was much different from what Melissa seemed to expect. Whereas Jason spent time with me whenever it was convenient for him, Melissa went out of her way to spend time with me at school. Where Jason was brash and introspective, Melissa was straightforward and kind. Jason would often forget I was around and drift off somewhere; Melissa's attention centered on me when we were together.

And now I'd very possibly made her hate me. The one person I'd ever met that not only didn't mind being around me, but had actually seemed to enjoy it, and I'd fucked it up. I shoved those thoughts from my mind as I neared Jason's block. Even if his mom was home, I could crash in the old Toyota that sat in the backyard.

I slipped in the gate and looked up to see Jason standing shirtless by a fire, three other people standing around him. The girl glances over at me and nudges Jason, saying something I don't catch, and Jason spins around, his face lighting up when he sees me.

"Duncan, brother, you're just in time! We're initiating Bobby here! C'mon, you can go first."

One of the guys gives me a thumbs-up, and I slowly swing the gate closed behind me. "Huh?"

"We're initiating Bobby; we're each gonna take a turn branding him. If he can take it, then he's family." Jason turns around so I can see the various symbols burned into his back.

I stare at Jason, making no move to come closer. "Tha' sounds like a 'you' thing, man... I jus' need a place t' crash fer a bit. I ain't wanna initiate nobody."

The girl has been watching the exchange between me and Jason closely, and she pipes up, "Jason, that's not fair! We don't even know this kid!"

Jason whips around and begins waving his arms. "Tanya, it's my family, if I want him to join the initiation rite, then he can!"

Tanya takes a step closer, raising her own arm to point at me, "He hasn't been branded; he can't do it! I had to; that's not fair!"

"Let's just initiate the kid, then, Tanya. Save that bitchy energy for when you and Jason are in bed."

Before Jason can say anything, I clear my throat and take a step closer. "I ain't gonna do it, Jay. I jus' wanna sleep, man. 'S yer mom here?"

Jason slowly turns back to me, his arms hanging above his head. "This is a privilege, little brother. I don't let just anybody join my family."

"If I'm yer 'li'l brother', then I'm already family, right? So if I ain't wanna do it, I ain't gotta."

Jason looks at me for a minute, then bursts into shrill cackles. Finally, bent double and wiping his eyes, he tells me to go get some rest in his room. "June won't be home for a few days; she won a couple hundred on lotto tickets yesterday."

I make my way into the house and fall onto his bed, wondering how safe I really am here. Not very, if I'm honest with myself, but at least here there's a chance I won't wake up to a beating, or some tweaker trying to steal my shoes, or a flashlight in my face. I fall  asleep and wake up nearly seventeen hours later to Jason blowing softly in my ear.

"Th' fuck, man?" I mumble, rolling away. Jason laughs and plops down next to me. I smell blueberries and weed, and a second after Jason sits, he starts to cough. I blink a few times and turn my head back toward him, and he holds out the blunt as he doubles up.

We smoke the blunt together, and I slowly realize that it's dark outside. As Jason mashes out the roach in an ashtray beside the bed, I sit up.

"Wha' time is it?" I ask, reaching up to touch my cheek. I'd washed it in the park bathroom before I came to Jason's, but it's still hot to the touch.

"It is three twenty-seven in the am. You want a bandage or something for that?" Jason asks, leaning over to study my cheek. I shrug and nod, and he leaps from the bed. "Stay here," he tells me, and prances from the room.

He returns a while later with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a rag in one hand, some gauze and medical tape in the other. He chuckles at my questioning look.

"I bought some when I knew we were gonna initiate Bobby," he says as he sits cross-legged on the bed, "He pussed out after the first brand, so I had some left over. Turn toward me."

I let Jason drench my face with the rubbing alcohol, hissing as he wipes my face none to gently with the rag. He douses my cheek a second time and then tapes the gauze to my face. Tossing everything into a corner, he tells me that his mom came home an hour ago and passed out in the living room.

"You can still sleep on the floor; she should be out for a solid thirty or so hours, but I figured I'd give you a heads up."

I shake my head and swing my feet to the floor, stuffing my feet back into my shoes. "I better jus' take off. I should probably check t' see if Bruce has come down yet, anyway." Jason nods knowingly and doesn't try to dissuade me as I leave.

I don't go back to the house, but I do walk by as dawn approaches. All the lights are on, and I can hear banging coming from inside, so I keep walking, resigning myself to another few sleepless nights of wandering around. I'm so tired by full light that I head to school, counting on a little bit of sleep during lunch. If I'm lucky, I'll fall asleep in homeroom or something and score detention.

As soon as I'm within sight of the school, I recognize Melissa standing out front. She spots me as I reach the corner, and comes marching over, her face pinched in annoyance.

"Duncan, where have you been!?" She stops just short of arm's-length away, and I silently count my blessings. "We had to present an outline for our History project yesterday in class," she tells me, her hands falling to her hips, "And I was the only one there that had to present alone! Everyone was laughing!"

I blink at her stupidly, and she snorts at me. "You know, Duncan, if you're not going to help me, I might as well tell the teacher that I want to do this project on my own!"

I blink again, at a complete loss for words. Over the course of the past few days, I've forgotten mundane things like school completely.

Melissa's face goes from annoyed to angry when I don't speak, and she crosses her arms. "You know, you could have told me at the start if you weren't going to help me. At least I would have known that I'd have to do it all on my own."

Her last words unfreeze my tongue. "Ya' didn' seem t' wan' my help th' other day in th' library," I spit at her: I'm so tired of everything being my fault. "So I jus' figured I'd leave ya' alone."

"I was mad because you yelled at me for no reason, Duncan! Is this you getting back at me for being mad at you?!"

"Are you fuckin' serious righ' now?" I yell, my restraint breaking, "I'm gettin' back at you? I didn' fuckin' help you cause ya pretty much tol' me ya didn' want my fuckin' help! What the fuck d'ya want from me, Melissa?"

"I want you to be my friend," she tells me quietly, her face melting from anger to concern. "And friends tell each other if they're going to bail on projects." She gives me a small smile, and I'm completely lost by this sudden change. "And friends talk to each other about stuff instead of biting the other one's head off for asking a question."

My anger, already so close to the surface, flares up again. "I tol' you t' drop it," I snap, my eyebrows coming together, "An' ya wouldn' leave it alone."

Melissa keeps the kind smile on her face and sort of tilts her head to one side. "Yeah, cause I was worried about you; you looked awful. You could have just said you didn't want to talk about it instead of storming off."

"An' 'stormin' off' don't tell ya I ain't wanna talk?"

Melissa takes a deep breath and blinks a moment too long: "I'm just saying that it's okay to use your words sometimes. I didn't mean to make you mad at me, Duncan. The only reason I followed you is because I care about you."

I feel my anger deflate, and mutter, "Fine. Sorry." When Melissa just continues to watch me, I turn my head away and hunch my shoulders. I see Melissa open her mouth, reconsider, and close it again, a resigned expression on her face. I pretend I haven't noticed, though, as she quickly replaces it with a cheery attitude.

"I'm sorry too. I probably shouldn't have yelled at you," she says with a sheepish look, "And it's okay that you weren't there yesterday. We can do the last presentation together, anyway."

Melissa links her arm with mine and starts off toward the school with me in tow. I pull away, and she lets me go after my second attempt, laughing. The day goes about as I'd expected, but I don't land a detention, and I find myself standing with Melissa out front as she waits for her mom.